Final Review chapter 17-20

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

Wilmot Proviso (1846)

The Wilmot Proviso was a rider to a bill proposed by Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot in 1846 that sought to ban slavery in any territories or new states acquired from Mexico. Essentially the argument was over whether there would be slavery in Texas, New Mexico, California, and other new western states. The debate is considered a crucial part of the lead-up to the Civil War. It was voted down by the southern senators.

Fire-eaters v. Union-savers

1. Hotheaded southern agitators; refers to a group of extremist pro-slavery politicians from the South who urged the separation of southern states into a new nation, which became known as the Confederate States of America.

2. Clay, Webster, and Douglas; wanted compromise and to preserve the union

Lewis Cass

Democratic senator and War of 1812 veteran who proposed popular sovereignty to settle the slavery question in the territories; he lost the presidential election in 1848 against Zachary Taylor but continued to advocate his solution to the slavery issue throughout the 1850s; in the election, Free-Soiler Van Buren took enough votes in NY to cause this man to narrowly lose

Popular Sovereignty

A government in which the people rule by their own consent (each territory determine if slavery or not); people liked; spread the blight of slavery

Zachary Taylor

(1849-1850), From Virginia; Whig president who was a Southern slave holder, and war hero (Mexican-American War; Buena Vista). Won the 1848 election. Surprisingly did not address the issue of slavery at all on his platform (wealthy LO planter with many slaves). He died during his term and his Vice President was Millard Fillmore.

Free Soil Party

Formed in 1847 - 1848, dedicated to opposing slavery in newly acquired territories such as Oregon and ceded Mexican territory; supported Wilmot Proviso; advocated for internal improvements by urging free government homesteads; appealed to industrialists, democrats mad that not all of oregon was annexed, northerners who didn't want to share new lands with blacks, conscience whigs, Van Buren; condemned slavery for hurting poor white laborers

California Gold Rush

1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 men, women, and children coming to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. These early gold-seekers, called "forty-niners," traveled to California by sailing boat and in covered wagons across the continent, often facing substantial hardships on the trip. San Francisco grew from a small settlement to a boomtown, and roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. A system of laws and a government were created, leading to the admission of California as a state in 1850

James Williams

former slave who escaped bondage in Maryland and sought gold in california; showed how the social order in CA was fluid

California Constitution

drafted in 1849; excluded slavery and applied to congress for admission into the USA (bypassed the usual territorial stage); caused tension with southern politicians; at the time, there were 15 slave states and 15 free; tip balance

Southern Agitation

1. CA would set a precedent for all states from the Mexico Territory being free

2. Texas threatened to seize Santa Fe if the federal government took its land

3. Slavery was abolished in the district of Columbia

4. Slaves lost in the underground railroad

Underground Railroad

A system that helped enslaved African Americans follow a network of escape routes out of the South to freedom in the North (Canada); a series of antislavery homes and abolitionists

Harriet Tubman

American abolitionist. Born a slave on a Maryland plantation, she escaped to the North in 1849 and became the most renowned conductor on the Underground Railroad, leading more than 300 slaves to freedom. "Moses"

Personal Liberty Laws

Laws passed by Northern states forbidding the imprisonment of escaped slaves by local officials. Passed after the supreme court suggested that local governments did not have to enforce the fugitive-slave laws

Immortal Trio

The congressional debate of 1850 was called to address the possible admission of California to the Union and threats of secession by southerners from Nashville in 1849. Known as the "_____ _____," Henry Clay, John Calhoun, and Daniel Webster spoke at the forum.

Stephen Douglas

an American politician from Illinois and the designer of the Kansas-Nebraska Act; supported Clay in the congressional debate of 1850; ran against Lincoln; "Little Giant;" in 1854, pushed for western expansion and a railroad terminus in Illinois

Seventh of March Speech

Webster's last great speech to the US Senate which called upon his fellow senators to give their full support to the Compromise of 1850; supported Clay's ideas of compromise/union and a new, stronger Fugitive Slave laws; slaver economy could not profitably exist in the Mexican Cession Territory (Wilmot Proviso, God); free-soilers and abolitionists branded him a Benedict Arnold for this

Young Guard

Young radical anti-slaveryites more interested in purification of the Union than its preservation; William H Seward

William H. Seward

senator of NY; young guard; antislavery and argued that God's moral law was higher than the constitution; "higher law;" greatly influenced Taylor to veto any concessions made by congress

Millard Fillmore

New Yorker who supported and signed the Compromise of 1850 after he suddenly became president that same year (after Taylor died); dispatched ships to Japan in 1852; elected as nativist delegate for the presidential election of 1856 (Know-Nothing)

Compromise of 1850

(1) California admitted as free state, (2) territorial status and popular sovereignty of Utah and New Mexico, (3) resolution of Texas-New Mexico boundaries, (4) federal assumption of Texas 10 mil debt, (5) slave trade abolished in DC, and (6) new fugitive slave law "bloodhound bill"; advocated by Henry Clay and Stephen A. Douglas (LED TO THE SECOND ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS-BUT NORTH GOT THE BETTER DEAL)

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850

Passed as part of the Compromise of 1850, it set high penalties for anyone who aided escaped slaves and compelled all law enforcement officers to participate in retrieving runaways (forced to search for slaves). Strengthened the antislavery cause in the North and southern oppositions to the North. Runaway slaves could not testify. Federal Commissioners "bribed" if slaves not freed. "Bloodhound Bill"

Anthony Burns

American enslaved African, he ran away from Virginia and was arrested in Boston. His arrest became the center of violent protests by northern opponents of the Fugitive Slave Act.

Franklin Pierce

14th President; from NH; second dark horse president; democratic nominating committee of 1852; pro southern northerner; fainting general; endorsed Compromise of 1850, fugitive slave law, and expansion

Winfield Scott

"Old Fuss and Feathers," whose conquest of Mexico City brought U.S. victory in the Mexican War; nominated for the Whig presidential candidate in 1852; endorsed 1850; pompous; lost because of the whig party split over anti-slavery whigs and southern whigs (Georgia Whigs voted for Webster instead; northern Whigs voted for Free-Soiler John P. Hale - 5%)

Treaty of 1848

With New Granada/Colombia, guaranteed American right of transit across the isthmus for Washington's neutrality in the route; led to Roosevelt's American Panama Canal Sone later in 1903

Clayton-Bulwer Treaty

1850 - Treaty between U.S. and Great Britain agreeing that neither country would try to obtain exclusive rights to a canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Abrogated by the U.S. in 1881.

William Walker

A proslavery American adventurer from the South, he led an expedition to seize control on Nicaragua in 1855 (named himself president in 1856). He wanted to petition for annexation it as a new slave state but failed when several Latin American countries sent troops to oust him before the offer was made (Honduran Firing Squad in 1860)

Black Warrior

the American Steamship that was seized by Cubans in 1854 which sparked conflict between the two countries; president Pierce was almost forced to declare war

Ostend Manifesto

A declaration (1854) issued from Ostend, Belgium, by the U.S. ministers to England, France, and Spain; stating that the U.S. would be justified in seizing Cuba if Spain did not sell it to the U.S. for 120 million dollars; northerners opposed because they feared it becoming slave state; caused Pierce to drop it

Opium War

a conflict between Britain and China, lasting from 1839 to 1842, over Britain's opium trade in China; British gained free access to 5 treaty ports, and control of Hong Kong; prompted American interest In China trade

Caleb Cushing and Threaty of Wanghia

(1800-1879) Massachusetts-born congressman and diplomat who "opened" China to U.S. trade, negotiating the _________ in 1844 through gifts and the first formal diplomatic agreement between China and the US; trading rights for US, Americans accused of crimes in China judged back in US, opened to American missionaries

Commadore Matthew Perry

Who led the navy (black ships) that steamed into (Edo) Tokyo Bay with demands that Japan open its doors to the west in 1853 (instructed by Millard Fillmore); landed on shore, gave slip letters, and returned a year later for the verdict (Treaty of Kanagawa)

Treaty of Kanagawa (1854)

Ended Japan's two-hundred year period of economic isolation, establishing an American consulate in Japan and securing American coaling rights in Japanese ports (brought about partly by Matthew Perry)

James Gadsden and the Gadsden Purchase

A prominent South Carolina railroad man, appointed minister to Mexico by Secretary of State Jefferson Davis. He negotiated a treaty in 1853 with Santa Anna, which ceded to the United States the Gadsden Purchase area for 10 million dollars; allowed national railroad to originate in the south

Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)

Proposed by Senator Douglas (Illinois) and advocated popular sovereignty in Kansas and Nebraska territories (vote by people of territory whether they would be slave or free state). Douglas wanted it to facilitate the building of the transcontinental railroad on a central route through Illinois, thus benefitting his state economically. Defies Missouri Compromise and the 1850 one. and the 36 30 line. K/A Act passed but backfired terribly as extremes of both sides of slavery debate flooded into Kansas. Votes on constitutions were plagued with fraud and "Bleeding Kansas" begins as violence erupts between pro/anti-slavery groups. Shattered the democratic party (last one as president in 1856)

New Republican Party

new party as a result of opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act in the Mid West (WI and Michigan); combination of anti-slavery radicals, know-nothings, old-line Whigs, Free-Soilers and Jacksonian democrats; sectional party (never went south of the Mason-Dixon line)

Uncle Tom's Cabin

a novel published by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852 which portrayed slavery as brutal and immoral; inspired by witnessing slavery in KY and OH aroused northern anger towards slaver after the Fugitive Slave Act; splitting of families (religious undertones); VERY successful; helped start and win civil war; inspired "boys in blue" - popular abroad in France and England

The Impending Crisis of the South

A book written by non-aristocratic North Carolinian Hinton Helper in 1857. Helper hated both slavery and blacks and used this book to try to prove that non-slave owning whites were the ones who suffered the most from slavery. The non-aristocrat from N.C. had to go to the North to find a publisher that would publish his book. Had little effect on the poor whites, but fueled the elite planters' fears that the non-slave-holding majority would turn against them (led to book burning parties); republicans distributed in the north, south anger at north -> division

New England Emigrant Aid Company

Antislavery organization in the North that sent out thousands of pioneers to the Kansas-Nebraska territory to thwart the Southerners and "abolitionize" the West (also to make a profit); carried Beecher's Bibles (Sharp rifles - Henry Ward Beecher); southerners responded by sending small groups of armed slave-owners to Kansas (but not take slaves - only 2 in Kansas and 1 in Nebraska)

Shawnee Mission and Topeka

1. "Puppet" government established by pro-slavery individuals in Kansas as Missouri ruffians came to vote to elect members to the territorial legislature (1855)

2. Extra-legal free-soiled government in Kansas

BOTH LED TO CONFUSION

Bleeding Kansas

(1856) a series of violent fights between pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces in Kansas who had moved to Kansas to try to influence the decision of whether or not Kansas would a slave state or a free state; started when pro-slavery raiders shot up and burned a free-soiler area of town

John Brown

(1800-1859) anti-slavery advocate who believed that God had called upon him to abolish slavery. Devoted over 20 years to fighting slavery; due to misunderstanding, in revenge, he and his followers (his sons and others) killed five men in the pro slavery settlement of Pottawatomie Creek (1856). Triggered dozens of incidents throughout Kansas some 200 people were killed (INITIATED KANSAS CIVIL WAR). Was executed, still debated over whether he is a saint or killer. Responsible for Harpers Ferry raid in 1859

Lecompton Constitution

The pro-slavery constitution suggested for Kansas' admission to the union in 1857. People could vote "with slavery" or "without" (if without already had a provision to protect those with slaves). As free-soilers boycotted the polls, it was passed in Kansas. In Washington, it was supported by President Buchanan (Democrat from North). Senator Douglass thought it violated popular sovereignty, forced to be popular vote in House. It was rejected in Washington. Democrats split and became a sectional party.

Charles Sumner

Massachusetts senator who was an outspoken critic of pro-slavery leaders; insulted South Carolina and it's senator Andrew Butler; beaten nearly to death on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Preston Brooks after speaking out against slavery.

Preston Brooks

A hot tempered Congressman of South Carolina took vengeance in his own hands. He beat Sumner with a cane until he was restrained by other Senators. He later resigned from his position, but was soon reelected. Made "Bleeding Sumner" part of the "Bleeding Kansas" affair; "Bully Brooks"

James Buchanan

"Old Buck" - The 15th President of the United States; democrat elected in 1856 - (1857-1861). He tried to maintain a balance between proslavery and antislavery factions, but his moderate views angered radicals in both North and South, and he was unable to forestall the secession of South Carolina on December 20, 1860.

John C. Fremont

(1856) Republican, "Pathfinder of the West", "Kansas-less", Against extension of slavery in territories. an american military officer, explorer, the first candidate of the republican party for the office of president of the united states, and the first presidential candidate of a major party to run on a platform in opposition to slavery. Know-Nothing party took some of his votes.

Dred Scott v. Sanford

(1857) Black slave lived with his master in Illinois and Wisconsin territory - sued for freedom due to his long residence on the free soil. Supreme Court decision that stated slaves were not citizens (could not sue). Slaves were property no matter where they were living or taken by their masters. Rulled that the Compromise of 1820 was unconstitutional (although already repealed by Kansas-Nebraska) - congress has no power to ban slavery. Made by slave-owning Roger B. Taney. Drives wedge between North and South Whigs of democratic party. Republicans infuriated - defied - south mad at defiance.

Panic of 1857

Financial crash brought on by gold-fueled (from CA) inflation, overspeculation, and excess grain production (for Crimean War in Russia). North was hardest hit, while south continued to prosper in the foreign cotton market. Raised calls in the North for higher tariffs and for free homesteads (farms) on western public lands (lead to homestead act, but was vetoed by Buchanan)

Tariff of 1857

months before a panic, congress passed this due to pressure from the South; reduced duties to 20 percent (lowest since 1812); North (republican) manufacturers complained about the low tariff as the surplus in the treasury dissipated (actually want the protection); after the panic, the republicans pushed for protection and farms

Abraham Lincoln

16th Republican (minority) President of the United States; Illinois lawyer; almost nominated for Fremont VP in 1856; lost in 1858 against Douglass in Illinois senate spot; NOT FULL ABOLITIONIST (favored cash compensation to owners of freed slaves); rail-spitter; saved the Union during the Civil War and emancipated the slaves; was assassinated by Booth (1809-1865)

Lincoln-Douglas Debates

1858 - Senate Debate, Lincoln forced Douglas to debate issue of slavery, Douglas supported pop-sovereignty, Lincoln asserted that slavery should not spread to territories, Lincoln emerged as strong Republican candidate

Freeport Question

(1858) Raised during one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates by Abraham Lincoln, who asked whether the Court or the people should decide the future of slavery in the territories (can states vote to ban slavery?)

Freeport Doctrine (1858)

Declared that since slavery could not exist without laws to protect it, territorial legislatures (not the Supreme Court) would have the final say on the slavery question. U.S. Congress could not outlaw

slavery in the territories (Dred Scott v. Sandford) but the people could (popular sovereignty) — defies supreme spurt and hurt chances at presidency

Harper's Ferry

Federal arsenal in Virginia seized by abolitionist John Brown in 1859 in attempt to invade the South and free slaves (establish a black free state). Though Brown was later captured (Robert E. Lee) and executed (slaves didn't rise up), his raid alarmed Southerners who believed that Northerners shared in Brown's extremism. When he hung, became a martyr to antislavery ("this is a beautiful country")

John C. Breckinridge

democratic party split over slavery, etc; pro-slavery candidate nominated by southern Democrats for the 1860 presidential election; vice president; the platform wanted to expand slavery and annex the slave-populated territories

Constitutional Union Party and John Bell

also known as the "do-nothings" or "Old Gentlemen's" party; 1860 election; it was a middle of the road group that feared for the Union- consisted mostly of Whigs and Know-Nothings, met in Baltimore and nominated John Bell from Tennessee as candidate for presidency-the slogan for this candidate was "The Union, the Constitution, and the Enforcement of the laws."

charleston 1860

South Carolina met in a special convention after Abe was elected; unanimously voted to leave the union

John Jordan Crittenden

US Senator from KY (like Clay) who introduced a compromise in 1860 (________ amendments) after SC's call for secession in an effort to avoid a civil war; prohibited slavery in territories north of the 36' 30' but expending federal protection to slavery in the South

Crittenden Amendments

Failed constitutional amendments that would have given federal protection for slavery in all territories south (even possible new ones like cuba) of 36°30' where slavery was supported by popular sovereignty (but slavery prohibited north or the line). Proposed in an attempt to appease the South after SC secession threats. Rejected by Abe.

South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas

states that succeeded from the union

Confederate States of America and Jefferson Davis

the southern states that seceded from the United States in 1861; chose _______ (MS) as president; first seven, then eleven

James Russell Lowell

an American romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. Criticized the tipping of the scales towards the north (crime of the north) to justify secession

Fort Sumter

One of only two remaining federal forts at the start of the Civil War; in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina; when Lincoln sent provisions to provision the fort, the South thought he was trying to reinforce it for war; the confederate attack on the fort in 1861 marked the first attack of the Civil War; lost the battle, but won long term bc Lincoln used the Southern attack as reason to call for 75,000 militiamen and a blockade of Southern Seaports; caused states unsure about secession (Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee) to secede (Richmond, Virginia becomes confederate capital)

Border States

States bordering the North and South: Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri. They were slave states, but did not secede. Their white population was more than half of the entire confederacy. Included the prizes of the Ohio River and West Virginia (with the mountain whites); with Ohio river, could block supply routs to the South (Lincoln HAD to have KY)

West Virginia

a "mountain white" area that semi-illegally split from Virginia to become a free state in 1861

Save the Union

Lincoln's main goal of the Civil War (resulted in slaveholders and pro-slavery sympathizers on both sides)

Five Civilized Tribes

Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole; resided in Indian Territory (Oklahoma); sided with the Confederacy, as many, like the Cherokees, owned slaves; as a result, the Confederate gov. took over federal payments to them, and invited them to send delegates to Confederate congress; on the other hand, some Cherokees and plains Indians sides with the Union

Confederacy Advantages and Disadvantages

1. Fought defensively (North had to invade them)

2. Did not have to win, just draw for independence

3. Fighting on own soil led to determination to preserve the land (morale)

4. Most talented officers (Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson)

5. "Bred" to fight (farm workers)

~

1. Had a lack of factories, but seized arms

2. Had a lack of blankets, uniforms, and shoes

3. Poor transportation system, often went hungry

4. Only had 1/4 of the nation's wealth and railroads

5. Lacked control of the Sea (could be blockaded; North could exchange grain with Europe for munitions)

6. Was outnumbered (9 mil to 22 mil)

Thomas J. Jackson (Stonewall)

Daring Confederate General and brilliant tactician, who routinely took men on long marches to out-flank Union lines. Won Bill Run, and was chief lieutenant to Lee.

Robert E. Lee

Confederate general who had opposed secession but did not believe the Union should be held together by force; was very moral and followed his home state, Virginia, into the Confederacy

Northern Weaknesses

1. not originally accustomed to fighting (many shopkeepers)

2. poor commanders (except Grant)

Ulysses S. Grant

an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869-1877). He achieved international fame as the leading Union general in the American Civil War. Won the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson in the Cumberland rivers in 1862

Cotton Famine

Britain had a surplus of cotton originally, but when they ran out (1.5 yrs later) they couldn't get any more from the South because they were fighting in the Civil War. This caused hunger and unemployment but eventually the Union and other countries (Egypt and India) sent relief food and cotton to Britain (invaded south and sent their cotton to Britain)

King Wheat and King Corn

monarchs of Northern agriculture-during civil war years the north had ideal weather while Britain had a series of bad harvests. Had the cheapest and most abundant supply of grain (kept Britain from joining the south)

Trent Affair

In 1861 the Confederacy sent emissaries James Mason to Britain and John Slidell to France to lobby for recognition. A Union ship captured both men from a British Steamer, and took them to Boston as prisoners. The British were angry and Lincoln ordered their release

Alabama

A Confederate ship built in Britain and armed after it left port so it was not considered a warship when it left port. Left harbor for Portugal in 1862. Burned Yankee ships, and anger the North enough to divert the blockade. Displayed the main foreign intervention in the war (manned by mostly British), and because it never landed in a Confederate port it yielded Britain the naval base of the Confederacy. Destroyed by a Union cruiser near France in 1864.

Charles Francis Adams

Minister to Great Britain during the Civil War, he wanted to keep Britain from entering the war on the side of the South; cause British to stop letting Confederate raiders be built on their shores and the fully commit to neutrality

Laird Rams

(1863) Two well-armed ironclad warships constructed for the Confederacy by a British firm. Seeking to avoid war with the United States, the British government purchased the two ships for its Royal Navy instead.

Dominion of Canada

Unified Canadian government created by Britain in 1867 to bolster Canadians against potential attacks or overtures from the United States.

Lincoln's actions at the start of the war

1. Declared blockade